4 || Friday, Nov. 9, 2012 || Central Michigan Life
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Comic books a legitimate art form, says ‘Batman’ executive producer Michael Uslan By Ryan Fitzmaurice Staff Reporter
In January 1966, a young Michael Uslan, brimming with anticipation, rushed to his living room and sat anxiously in front of his television. It was the premiere of the new Batman television series, the first since the 1949 serial “Batman and Robin.” “I was excited and horrified at the same time,” Uslan said. “I was excited because the show was colorful, it was bright. They spent a lot of money on everything. The costumes, the vehicles, the gadgets. But I was horrified, because this was not the Batman of Adam West ... everyone in the world was laughing at Batman.” Uslan rushed down to his basement, and, in a manner very similar to Bruce Wayne vowing to avenge his parents, Uslan vowed to show the world the dark and serious Batman, to return him to a “dark creature of the night.” Uslan, who spoke to a crowd of about 420 people at Platcha Auditorium Wednesday night,
Andrew Kuhn/Staff Photographer
Executive producer of the Batman films, Michael Uslan, speaks to a crowd Wednesday night in Plachta Auditorium. Uslan has worked as a producer on the Batman films since the 1989 Tim Burton film, up through the most recent “The Dark Night Rises”.
has been a producer of every major Batman film since Tim Burton’s 1989 film and has also been involved in the production of various full-length animated Batman features based on the popular TV shows “Batman,” the animated series, and “The Batman.” He shared his life story to Platcha Auditorium, from his
start as a poor college student who stumbled into teaching the first college class about comic books in American education, to writing Batman comics for DC Comics, to buying the rights to Batman in the 1970s and facing 10 years of laughs and derision before finally releasing Tim Burton’s “Batman” in 1989. Uslan is most known for
Volunteer Center to host Adopt-A-Family program Monday in Bovee University Center By Charnae Sanders Staff Reporter
Students with an interest of giving back to the community and those less fortunate can participate in the Adopt-A-Family Match Day on Monday at the Bovee University Center in Room 106 from 1 to 5 p.m. The Mary Ellen Volunteer Center partnered with United Way of Isabella County to help students adopt families for this upcoming holiday season. After families put in applications through United Way, the volunteer center will receive a list of families from the company and will match students with them. Students are able to see how many members are in the family, how old the family members are and read their story or find out what happened to them that put them in this situation. When adopting a family, students will receive a wish list of the adopted family’s needs. Wyoming graduate student Jason Vasquez worked with the Business Residential College and Public Service Residential College to adopt one family for each of the past two years. “We chose a family that
we could relate to or one that had a story we thought was inspiring and we wanted to help them out,” Vasquez said. “For instance, we adopted a family of a mother with two kids, and they had no kitchen table. So, we bought them a kitchen table so they could have a kitchen table for their family, because the father passed away and he was the main provider for their family.” When Jason partnered with the BRC and PSRC, together they raised $200 for the family. However, they did not come to a stop once they purchased the kitchen table. “We bought the family clothes (and) toys for the kids,” Vasquez said. “… Also just a gift card, just for gas to get around.” Students who participated in the program normally adopt a family as a group and fundraise to help support the family. They will work with RSOs or Greek Life. “I know a lot of people do it as a group,” said Pontiac sophomore Chelsea Moss said, who works at the volunteer center. “It’s different sororities, fraternities ... as a whole will adopt a family. They’ll do different fundraisers for that family.” However, the entire process is completely anony-
union township | continued from 3 Approved with 82 percent of the vote, the second amendment requires the city clerk to post a notice of each special commission meeting 18 hours in advanced, compared to the current 12-hour notice. The final proposal, rejected by voters by a
65.3 percent to 34. 6 percent margin, would have amended the charter to allow for appointed members of any city agency, board or committee to serve with no term limits.
Union Township supervisor
Union Township Supervisor
mous. Those who adopt families will never meet the families face-to-face. “The people who contribute to this, they’re not going to get any recognition,” Moss said. “It’s not nothing like ‘because you did this, we’re going to give you a gift card.’ There’s no prize in the end besides you basically just having that good feeling that you just helped not just one person, but a whole family. This could impact them for the rest of their lives.” One year, the PSRC raised money for a bed. They knocked at several residence hall doors to fundraise money so they could not only buy the mattress, but a bed frame. “It’s service to others, it’s not a handout — it’s a hand up,” Vasquez said. “We want to be able to uplift people and give them hope for the future instead of just a ‘here’s a gift, have a happy holiday.’ We want to be sure to make them happy and use that for the future.” For students interested in taking part in this program, they can stop at the volunteer center or go to OrgSync. Adopt-A-Family ends Nov. 20. studentlife@cm-life.com
John Barker was re-elected by the narrowest of margins, defeating his Republican challenger Russ Alwood by only three votes. Barker, the incumbent Democrat, received 1,631 votes compared to the 1,628 votes Alwood received. Barker has been serving as supervisor since he was elected in 2008. metro@cm-life.com
his involvement with Nolan’s recent breakout “Dark Knight” trilogy. “I’m no different from any of you,” Uslan said. “I was just a geeky fanboy comic book nerd who wanted to show the world a serious Batman.” Along with his film achievements, Uslan has been recognized academically, receiving a Ph.D in comic books from Monmouth University in October. Uslan has also been recognized internationally, gaining the privilege of giving a presentation in the United Nations to cartoonists from around the world. Uslan said these achievements indicate that comic books have finally arrived in today’s mainstream. “Comic books are a legitimate art form as crucial to America as Jazz,” Uslan said. “The Gods of Rome, Greece
and Egypt still exist, they just wear spandex and capes.” Nick Potter, a Sanford freshman, said he found Uslan relevant as he plans to go into filmmaking. “I assumed there was a lot of door slamming, so that didn’t surprise me,” Potter said in response to Uslan’s attempt to make his first Batman film. “But his determination and persistence were just really inspiring.” Jacob Deering, a Mount Pleasant resident, said he also found Uslan’s talk inspiring. “You have to do what you love to do,” Deering said. “You just have to find your dream, and you have to find your plan, and you have to follow it.” Uslan said the road to his current career, which he compared to reporting to a sandbox everyday and playing with your favorite toys, did not come easy.
“People always ask me how did you do it? What is your magic?” Uslan said. “The magic is there was no magic. The magic is pounding on doors until your knuckles bleed. My dream came true because of bleeding knuckles.” Uslan said his dream came true while watching a screening of “The Dark Knight Rises,” where at the end of the movie he started crying in the middle of the theater. “It was everything I wanted Batman to be since I was 14 years old. This was my dream. This was my epitaph,” he said. He explained this to his wife, who was sitting next to him in the theater. She looked at him, he said, and responded with a single sentence: “Well, what do you want to be when you grow up?” studentlife@cm-life.com